Feb 8 Seven Mount Polsen

In October 2016 we agreed to foster our first-ever dog on behalf of Home at Last Rescue (HALDR). 11-year old Seven had lived in the same home her entire life but after her master passed away, the remaining family members didn’t have time for her and she suffered neglect and abuse. As a result of not being spayed, Seven had three enormous lesion-covered mammary tumors and a related infection that went sadly untreated for several years. Despite her life-long loyalty and sweet nature, Seven’s family had planned to euthanize her because “she was going to cost money”.

Her bio on the rescue’s website had described an old, blind, one-eyed dog so I’d expected to pick up a mellow, slow-moving senior. Imagine our surprise at meeting a wiggly, smiling, energetic and friendly dog who clearly didn’t know she was ‘old’. Her loving, happy nature won us over immediately and needless to say, we adopted her after only a couple of weeks and set out to raise the thousands of dollars required for surgery at Canada West.

Thanks to the success of our GoFundMe campaign and a generous donation from Canada West’s Jessie & Bandit fund, Seven had her surgery on December 3, 2016. Dr. Kuzma and all the staff at Canada West were wonderful and made sure Seven received the best of care during the 3-hour surgery. Her largest tumor weighed in at 1.25 lbs and she was left with three huge scars and nearly 50 staples. After several days in hospital with round-the-clock care, Seven came home with to start her long recovery process.

6 months later you’d never know Seven had such a sad history. Seven is a favorite with all the residents at her ‘grandma’s’ care home where all the seniors compete for her attention. She loves her twice-daily walks and especially enjoys an ultra-high-speed game of chase with the other dogs at New Brighton Park. When people see her bouncing and racing around the park, they’re shocked to learn she’s 11 years old. At home, she’s silly and playful, throwing her squeaky toys in the air and repeatedly pouncing on them like a cat. This month we’ve started Rally-O classes at Dogworks in Burnaby where she’s proving an old dog can definitely learn new tricks. Seven is definitely making up for lost years.

The Jessie and Bandit Animal Care Fund (JBF) manages donations received by Canada West Veterinary Specialists to provide assistance to owners of pets being treated at our hospital in appropriate cases. JBF Pet Profiles tell the stories of animals who have been helped by the fund.